NASRC Launches FREE Natural Refrigerant Technology Library

For a limited time, access free on-demand presentations highlighting the latest natural refrigerant technologies for supermarket and food retail applications! The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) - a 501c3 nonprofit collaborating with the supermarket industry to advance the adoption of natural refrigerants - has launched a first-of-its-kind library of on-demand presentations showcasing natural refrigerant technology solutions for both new and existing supermarket facilities.

Due to the high global warming potential (GWP) of traditional hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants (HFCs), supermarkets are facing growing regulatory pressures to transition to low-GWP refrigerant technologies.

Natural refrigerants, including ammonia, hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide, are simultaneously the most climate-friendly solution and the most effective way for supermarkets to achieve regulatory compliance. But high upfront costs and other market barriers have prevented their widespread adoption, contributing to uncertainty around the low-GWP technologies that will best meet the needs of each supermarket.

“We heard from our retailer members that there was a lack of information on viable natural refrigerant technology options,” said Danielle Wright, NASRC executive director. “Retailers need to fully understand the benefits and trade-offs of each technology option in order to make sound decisions and effectively navigate increasing refrigerant regulations.”

To address this challenge, NASRC hosted a webinar series in which NASRC members presented on the latest natural refrigerant technology offerings. Presentations focused on options for existing stores, which are especially challenging as they require a costly full or partial system replacement to allow for the use of natural refrigerants. For a limited time, NASRC has made all webinar recordings available on-demand for free in a new Natural Refrigerant Technology Library.

“Our goal with this series was to help supermarkets and their partners learn about natural refrigerant technologies that meet their needs in both new and existing stores,” said Wright. “This information is also critical for policymakers and utilities to make informed decisions that will shape energy and refrigerant regulations.”

View the recordings now to learn about the latest natural refrigerant technology solutions for supermarkets.

NASRC is supported by over 24,000 US supermarket locations and more than 130 organizations representing all sectors of the commercial refrigeration industry. Learn more at their website here: www.nasrc.org.

Nonprofit Tackles Climate Change and Makes Natural Refrigerants More Affordable

Mill Valley, California - The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC), a 501(c)(3) environmental nonprofit working to advance climate-friendly natural refrigerants in supermarkets, is launching a new pilot program to offset the upfront costs of natural refrigerant technologies.

“High upfront cost is the primary hurdle preventing the adoption of environmentally friendly natural refrigerants” says Danielle Wright, NASRC executive director. “Funding support is key to bridging the gap and stimulating the economies of scale necessary to bring costs down.” NASRC’s new Aggregated Incentives Program (AIP) pilot is a free platform to coordinate various funding sources through a streamlined application process for food retailers.

 Traditional refrigerants contain Hydrofluorocarbon (HFCs) extremely potent greenhouse gases (GHGs) that trap thousands of times more heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2), and have been named the fastest-growing source of GHG emissions globally. Commercial refrigeration systems, such as those in supermarkets and grocery stores, are the leading contributor to HFC emissions, releasing over 130 million pounds of CO2 equivalent emissions annually in the U.S. alone. Natural refrigerants - including ammonia, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons - are the most climate-friendly solution, but their adoption in the U.S. has been stalled due in large part to cost barriers.  

 New refrigerant regulations proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) are driving a growing number of food retailers to consider natural refrigerants, making California an ideal location for the pilot of NASRC’s Aggregated Incentives Program. CARB has established an F-gas Reduction Incentive Program for climate-friendly refrigerants, but the allocated budget will only support a few natural refrigerant projects. AIP is designed to bridge the funding gap with outside funding sources to maximize the number of natural refrigerant projects. 

“Our goal is to secure enough funding to make these projects possible while simplifying the experience for the retailers,” comments Wright. “We also expect the pilot to generate a tremendous amount of data that will contribute to industry knowledge about naturals, further promoting their growth.”

The pilot program will be offered at no-cost to applicants thanks to the generous sponsorship of NASRC Titanium members, including BITZER US, Climate Pros, CoolSys, and Hillphoenix. NASRC is accepting preliminary AIP applications through the end of June 2020. Learn more or apply at nasrc.org/aggregated-incentives-program.

NASRC Joins 1% for the Planet as Nonprofit Partner

The North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) has joined 1% for the Planet as a nonprofit partner, introducing new opportunities for funding support to accelerate our mission and drive industry progress.

Founded in 2002, 1% for the Planet’s mission is to increase the amount of charitable giving directed towards environmental causes. The organization strives to connect philanthropic businesses, who pledge to donate 1% of their gross sales, with high-impact nonprofits, like NASRC.

“The intent of 1% for the Planet is to help fund these diverse environmental organizations so that collectively they can be a more powerful source in solving the world’s problems,” writes Yvon Chouinard, co-founder of 1% for the Planet.

Since our founding, we have experienced tremendous support from the supermarket industry. Our membership network now represents more than 130 industry stakeholders - including 24,000 supermarket locations in the United States – that contribute directly to our mission to eliminate the barriers preventing natural refrigerant adoption in supermarkets. 

The support we’ve received from industry stakeholders has been the driving force behind our mission and has positioned us to make meaningful progress. Introducing new support from philanthropic businesses and individuals would expand our capacity tremendously, increasing our ability to take swift action and drive significant industry progress. 

“We are thrilled to join 1% for the Planet and are grateful for the opportunity to connect with businesses and individuals looking to support nonprofits like us,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of NASRC. “We look forward to leveraging new relationships and opportunities to accelerate our mission and drive a meaningful impact.”

Learn more by viewing NASRC’s 1% for the Planet profile here.

NASRC Expo Drives Progress for Energy Efficient and Low-GWP Technologies

Irwindale, California – On January 15th and 16th, the North American Sustainable Refrigeration Council (NASRC) and Southern California Edison (SCE) co-hosted the first-ever Low-GWP & Energy Efficiency Expo, which brought together supermarket refrigeration, energy management, and regulatory stakeholders to explore the latest commercial refrigeration technologies offering both low global warming potential (GWP) and energy efficiency benefits.  

These technologies are of growing interest to the supermarket industry, in-part due to pending California regulations that were developed in response to the State’s goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and reduce hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions to 40% below 2013 levels by 2030. HFCs are of particular interest because they are extremely potent GHGs with thousands of times more warming potential than CO2, and have been named the fastest growing sources of GHG emissions globally.

To meet these goals, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has proposed new refrigerant regulations that will require retailers to reduce their emissions by transitioning to lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerants. The State’s ambitious GHG emission reduction targets will also require a decrease in indirect emissions from energy use, which has led to changes in state energy mandates.

Because supermarkets are more electricity-intensive than any other commercial building type and the refrigeration system makes up the largest electricity load in most supermarkets, both the energy use (indirect emissions) and global warming potential (GWP) of the refrigerants (direct emissions) must be addressed to maximize GHG emissions reductions. As a result, these state energy mandates and refrigerant regulations have significant implications for California grocers.

“Grocers are caught between increasing pressures to transition to low-GWP refrigerants and simultaneously reduce their energy use,” said Danielle Wright, executive director of the NASRC. “As a result there is a growing need for refrigeration technologies that are both low-GWP and energy efficient, which is why we created this expo event.”

The expo featured 28 exhibitors offering low-GWP and energy efficient technology solutions, as well as a series of technomercial and case study presentations that highlighted specific solutions (see featured solutions here). Technology options for existing facilities were especially of interest, in-part because existing facilities represent the greatest potential for emissions reductions.

Despite the opportunity for emissions reduction, existing facilities also present the greatest challenge for retailers due to high costs, business impacts, and a lack of available technology options to modularly transition to low-GWP refrigerants. To address this challenge, Tom Wolgamot of DC Engineering and Rob Arthur of Cushing Terrell teamed up in one of the sessions to explore a series of design options to incorporate low-GWP refrigerants into existing stores. See their presentation here.

The Expo event also featured an Emerging Technologies “Shark Tank” session that highlighted the newest innovations in commercial refrigeration, a session that highlighted the new proposed measures for the California energy code and latest trends in utility programs, and a regulatory update from CARB on their HFC reduction measures and incentive program.

Two recurring themes throughout the event were the need for both regulatory coordination and funding support to achieve GHG emissions reduction targets. Cost remains the greatest barrier to advancing these technologies, especially in existing facilities. As a result there is a considerable need for funding assistance to support the transition to low-GWP refrigerants. Collaboration between the industry and regulators can also reduce the burden of transitioning, and even lead to more effective regulations.

The NASRC plans to build on the momentum of this event to address the challenges preventing a low-GWP and energy efficient future for supermarket refrigeration and to coordinate funding sources for low-GWP technology installations. 

“This event laid the groundwork for key solutions that will lead to significant progress for the industry, and NASRC is uniquely positioned to drive these forward solutions with our members and partners.” said Wright. “That’s exactly what we were formed to do.”

For more information or to get involved in the solutions, visit www.nasrc.org.

NASRC to Present Natural Refrigerant Seminar And Live CO2 Demo

Thursday, January 10th, 1PM - 4:30PM (networking reception to follow)
Danfoss Headquarters, Baltimore, MD

On January 10th, the NASRC will present a free seminar, which will provide an overview of natural refrigerant applications in supermarkets, and why they are considered a "future-proof" alternative to HFC refrigerants. Gain insight into refrigerant regulations and how they will impact the supermarket industry. Learn about the latest natural refrigerant technology trends, barriers, and solutions to accelerate adoption.

This informative session will feature a special focus on CO2 technologies, an update on CO2 standard development, and live demonstration of a CO2 transcritical system. 

Agenda

• Natural refrigerant options for supermarkets, advantages, challenges, and case studies

• Incentives for low-GWP refrigerants 

• Refrigerant regulations at international, federal, and state level 

• Update on the IIAR CO2 standard for commercial refrigeration 

• Technology advances & automated controls 

• Live demonstration of CO2 transcritical system  

Attendees will include food retail end-users, service contractors, educators, utilities, policy makers, NGOs, and environmental stakeholders.

A networking reception sponsored by CoolSys and Danfoss will follow the seminar.

This event is generously hosted by Danfoss. 
Space is limited and registration is required.

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Thank you to our sponsors!